Israel's nuclear whistle-blower to be freed

For 18 years Mordachai Vanunu has been imprisoned by the state of Israel. His crime: telling the world the truth about his government's secret nuclear weapons programme. The date set for his release, 21 April, is only five months short of his full sentence. Over the years, the case of Mordechai Vanunu has come to symbolise the intractable problem of state secrecy that continues to stymie all efforts towards world nuclear disarmament. This is why Vanunu has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year since 1987.

However, is it freedom when you are gagged and not allowed to travel? These are some of the conditions that the vindictive state of Israel is considering to impose on Vanunu once he is released. On 24 February, Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other Israeli officials decided that keeping Mordechai in administrative detention would likely not pass a High Court review, but they do plan to impose restrictions, including not allowing him to leave Israel. The excuse is that Vanunu could reveal further information that could threaten the security of the country. But this is a lame excuse, considering that Vanunu has been locked away for 18 years and would have no further secrets to reveal. However, the state of Israel could be afraid of the figure of one of its most respected citizens speaking out loud and clear about what is going on in Israel. For many, Vananu represents the shining example of one man's courage. The former Israeli nuclear technician is one of the longest serving prisoners of conscience anywhere in the world.

Vanunu will have to add extra hardship to the 18 years he served in jail. He is to be forbidden to have contact with foreigners either in person or by correspondence. He will not be allowed to leave Israel or move from his home town without reporting to police.

The restrictions put on Vanunu are based on clauses 108 and 109 of the state of emergency statute passed by the British mandate in 1945. Vanunu will be allowed to choose where he lives, but will not be able to leave that town or city without police permission. He will not be allowed to go near foreign embassies, borders, ports or airports.

He will also be barred from talking about his work as a technician at the Dimona nuclear plant or the circumstances in which he was kidnapped by the Israeli security services in Italy in 1986.

The restrictions are due to last for six months, after which they can be renewed. If he is found to be in breach of the restrictions, he could face another trial.

David Polden, of the Campaign to Free Vanunu, said that it was unclear whether Vanunu would be able to talk to his adoptive parents, the American peace campaigners Nick and Mary Eoloff. It was also unclear whether he would be able to answer journalists' questions, even if they are directed to him via a third party.

Again, the Israeli Government's aim is to silence Vanunu. Back in 1986, then Prime Minister Shimon Peres ordered Vanunu' s abduction to silence the whistleblower, and to bring him to trial for allegedly jeopardising the security of the state of Israel for revealing to the world press information that confirmed the existence of Israel's often-denied plutonium separation plant. By doing so, Vanunu exercised the democratic principle of the public's right to know. However, that was not the understanding of the Israeli establishment. In September 1986, Vanunu was illegally abducted by agents of the Mossad. Back in Israel, he underwent a closed door trial and Israel claimed that the transcript of his court appearance was so sensitive it could never be made public. But several years ago, bending to public pressure, it released most of the trial record.

Clearly, Vanunu's "crime" was speaking the truth. And for that he was made to suffer a fate worse than death: eleven years and five months in solitary confinement. Isolation in a tiny cell is a well known form of torture, and one that can cause deep emotional scars and mental impairment. During this period, Vanunu was subjected to constant harassment and humiliations: an obvious attempt by the Mossad to "break" his will, or drive him over the edge. Amnesty International described the conditions of his ordeal as "cruel, inhuman, and degrading". It was only pressure from supporters around the world that put an end to solitary confinement in 1998.

During all this time, Vanunu has maintained his position that he was right to disclose Israel's secret nuclear-weapon production. From his prison cell Mordechai wrote: "It is a dangerous illusion to believe they [nuclear weapons] can be defensive... Only peace between states can promise security."

Shortly after his removal from solitary, he was queried by Israeli officials about whether he would agree to remain silent on the nuclear issue, implying an offer of conditional release. But Vanunu refused. He insisted on his right to speak freely. And he made it plain that being muzzled on the nuclear issue was non-negotiable: not an option for his release.

Maybe the time of Vanunu's release would be the right time to apply to Israel the standards applied to other countries suspected of building a nuclear arsenal and getting Israel to open its nuclear sites to IAEA inspectors. Meanwhile, Israel remains the only state in the region with nuclear weapons.

Israel's plant is buried 80 feet below ground in the Negev Desert and had long escaped detection. Since the 1960s, it has been used to recover plutonium from spent fuel rods from the Dimona nuclear reactor, located nearby. The plant continues to be an integral part of Israel's ongoing nuclear weapons programme and although Israel still officially denies that it has a nuclear arsenal, it is believed to possess at least 200 nukes.